Sen. Johnson signals opposition to House coronavirus bill, citing potential harm to small business

The Washington Times ^ | March 14, 2020 | Andrew Blake

[be-baw]

Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisconsin Republican, indicated his opposition Saturday to the coronavirus relief bill supported by President Trump and approved by the House of Representatives.

...

In a statement, Mr. Johnson criticized language in the legislation that would require government employers and companies with fewer than 500 people on their payroll to provide paid sick leave to workers who contract COVID-19, the infectious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

“Although mandating that all employers must pay for sick leave might sound good, we need to consider the unintended consequences of this legislation. I fear that rather than offering a workable solution, the House bill will exacerbate the problem by forcing small businesses to pay wages they cannot afford and ‘helping’ them go further into debt,” said Mr. Johnson.

[the anti-liberal]

Lot of good it would do those workers if their source of income ceases to exist because it’s gone out of business.

[Balding_Eagle]

The company I work for, which is 7 years old and growing like a weed, will fold with this legislation.

30 people out of work.

[Balding_Eagle]

This stupid panic, aided by a bunch of Freepers, is putting lives at risk.

[NativeSon]

Exactly. And how soon will this be expanded to other illness because “it’s only fair”?

And then it will never go away. The socialists have been looking to seize more control (idiot NYC mayor, looking at you), they’re taking the opportunity.

[easternsky]

There our MANY that will, cannot survive.

[datura]

In the past, this is a state issue.

[griswold3]

Thank you , Ron, for figuring this out!

[hanamizu]

This stupid panic, aided by a bunch of Freepers, is putting lives at risk.

---

In a month or two we can decide if the panic is warranted or not. But, China has shut itself down, followed by Italy, Spain, and France. Freepers have little or no influence in those nations. The people in a position to know seem to be looking at this as a very serious threat. Obviously, I hope they are wrong. The economic damage is already major and no doubt lots of businesses will close permanently because of it, whether or not they have to pay employees for time off.

[JoSixChip]

This stupid panic, aided by a bunch of Freepers, is putting lives at risk.

It is unbelievable panic. Eventially we will have to go back to life as usual and just let the virus run it's course. The damage done between now and then is what scares me.

[TheDandyMan]

My understanding is that this applies to people who test positive for Covid-19. If everyone in your company catches it, the business is done anyway. If your company can’t afford to pay sick leave to half a dozen employees out of work with Corona without folding, doesn’t sound like a very stable place to bet your livelihood on.

Regardless , this will be a popular move, and quite a bit less onerous than what president Biden would put in place under similar circumstances. Trump can go down on this — he’s already bobbled the response until late this past week — or he can throw a bone that will calm people and help him politically.

[John W]

Also to care for immediate family with it or to stay home to care for children who’s school has closed. You should know these folks never miss a trick when it comes to giveaways

[JohnBovenmyer]

I’m with Sen. Johnson on this. Why can’t the vaunted liberal social safety welfare net take care of those workers who can’t themselves absorb two weeks lost individual income. Trump, to date, has done little to disband it. Instead of mandating that small businesses, which aren’t all loaded with spare cash, absorb the costs of multiple’s of individual lost income, at least some of whom may be better off than their employers. The virus is a threat to all of us, it should be divided as widely as possible. And Johnson’s argument to not let liberal policies get any toehold is historically sound. Yes we need to come together, and yes we need to support President Trump, but make the left compromise for a change.

[lodi90]

The Wu Flu addicts are ruining FR. After near 20 years I’m just about done here because of those maniacs. One of them has posted sick fantasies about others with disagree who him getting the wu flu. Sick, sick puppies.

[shanover]

The goal is to tank the economy. No matter what FedGuv does,the economy may just implode no matter what since we are headed to a world wide recession. The libtards celebrate and the media will keep dishing out propaganda to destroy optimism and spirit.

[JoSixChip]

The Wu Flu addicts are ruining FR. After near 20 years I’m just about done here because of those maniacs. sick puppies.

I hear you. I've thought about it myself.

[mad_as_he$$]

Sad thing is that if the measures work and COVID-19 has a minimum impact the “it’s just the flu” crowd will say - see we told you it was no big deal.